Card feeding station

ABSTRACT

A data card feeding station in which a stack of cards is aligned and removed one-by-one from the stack by a feed roll and a pressure applying spring under the control of a card engaging plate which is actuated on command to allow engagement of a card between the feed roll and the spring.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of my pending application Ser. No.198,722, filed Nov. 15, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,382 granted Nov.12, 1974.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various card handling devices have heretofore been provided forsuccessively feeding cards, such as data cards, containing data in theform of perforations or printed indicia arranged in laterally spacedrows extending along the card or check, past a reading station at whichthe data, or the perforations or indicia representative of the data, arescanned by a reader head to transmit the information or data to acomputer for storage or conversion to legible data.

Problems have been encountered in the apparatus in respect ofestablishing and maintaining alignment of the card with the readingstation within acceptable limits to avoid erroneous readings or machinestoppage when excessive mis-alignment occurs. Among other things,alignment problems reduce the effective reading rate of the apparatus,because of the necessity, in many cases, to operate at low feed ratesand because of frequent stoppage. These problems have persisted,notwithstanding the advent of expensive and complicated apparatus,including, for example, vacuum type feed rollers. Such prior machines,moreover, experience difficulty in the proper handling of cards whichhave been folded, bent, spindled, or otherwise mutilated, for example,by torn edges.

Regarding reading accuracy or inaccuracy caused by misalignment,conventional data card, including check, handling apparatus provides afeeding station to which the cards are supplied in stacks, the cardsbeing fed successively from the bottom of the stack. The alignment ofthe cards with the reading head at the reading station is accomplishedby guides spaced apart to provide limited tolerance for the oppositelongitudinal edges of the cards. The feeding of the cards isaccomplished by spaced capstans or rollers which engage the cards asthey travel to and past the reading station. The cards, however, arecapable of skewing in their path of travel, that is, to move angularlywithin the guides about an axis perpendicular to the path of travel.Moreover, the cards are unrestrained except at the points of contactwith the feed rollers or capstans and are, therefore, free to flutter,that is, to partake of an undulating motion or transverse flexure. Whenthe cards in such apparatus are engaged between a spaced pair ofcapstans or rollers, the unavoidable and inherent differentialperipheral speeds of the capstans or rollers, caused by dimensionaldifferences in the rollers themselves and in the drive therefor, causeslongitudinal buckling of the cards.

All of these alignment problems which can cause erroneous reading ormachine stoppage can occur at the critical point, where uniformity ofalignment and speed is most needed, namely, at the reading station.

When the cards leave the reading station, they are successively fed to areceiver. If a preceding card is in the path of a following card, thefollowing card may contact the card in front of it and as a result becaused to be slightly retarded, causing stoppage of the conventionalapparatus which generally includes sensing means for detecting slightlongitudinal shifting of the card during the period that it is beingread, to avoid erroneous readout. While auger type shifting devices havebeen employed in an effort to positively move the preceding card fromthe path of the following card, such auger type devices are onlypartially effective since the cards may be deterred in their travel byimpingement upon the crest of the helical rib of the auger, thus causingstoppage of the apparatus and potential edge damage to the card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides card handling apparatus which obviatesthe above referred to problems and deficiencies in the prior cardhandling apparatus.

More particularly, the present invention provides novel card handlingapparatus for feeding data cards past a reading station, wherein thecards are initially successively aligned properly with the readout headand are delivered to a transport mechanism while in such alignment, andheld positively in alignment as the cards are successively transportedpast the reading station. The transporting mechanism is such thatskewing flutter and longitudinal deformation of the cards are allprevented. In addition, the transport mechanism is so constructed thatbent or crumpled cards, as well as damaged cards, are picked up andtransported past the reading station in a flattened state so as to beaccurately read and to thereby avoid machine stoppage. Further, theapparatus provides auger means for moving a preceding card from the pathof a following card at the receiving station to avoid impingement by thefollowing card, wherein the auger is resilient and offers no immovableobstruction to a card to cause the stoppage of machine operation and/oredge mutilation of the card.

In accomplishing the foregoing, the invention provides a feeding stationhaving a card guiding or aligning surface disposed at an incline alongan edge of the stack of cards, and the stack of cards is jostled oragitated to cause the cards to gravitate into contact with the cardaligning surface to a position parallel with the direction of cardtravel when the cards are successively picked up at the feeding stationby the transport mechanism.

The transport mechanism which transports cards from the feed station,past the reading station to the receiving station, in accordance withthe invention, employs a single feed roll against which the cards arepressed to hold the cards against lateral or longitudinal shiftingrelative to the feed roller. Such pressing of the card against the feedroller is also present at the reading station, where immobility of thecard from proper alignment or slippage of the card with respect to thefeed roller would otherwise cause error or stoppage. Pressing of thecard against the transport roller at the reading station will alsoflatten crumpled or bent cards at the critical point to enable suchcards to be accurately read. Since only a single feed roll is used inthe transport, the usual timing disc can revolve with the roll andaccurately represent card motion, whereas such a timing disc on one ofthe capstans of a dual capstan transport mechanism is inaccurate sinceit merely represents motion at a single capstan which may differ fromtotal card motion.

In a specific form, the jostling of the stack of cards in the feedingstation to uniformly align the cards with the reading head, isaccomplished by a mechanism which also operates to cause the leadingedge of successive cards to be pressed against the transport roller whenactivated.

When the successive cards pass the reading station and enter thereceiving station or stacker for removal from the apparatus, they areremoved from the path of the on-coming card by resilient screw or augerdevices composed of an open spiral of spring wire. Thus, the on-comingcard will not contact the preceding card, nor will the leading edge ofthe successive cards be torn or mutilated, since the spring spiral willresiliently deflect sufficiently to avoid such damage.

The invention possesses other features and has other advantages whichwill be best understood from the following detailed description, takentogether with the accompanying drawings forming a part of theapplication; but it is to be understood that the description anddrawings are not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the inventionmay take other forms and is best defined in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a predominantly frontal perspective of card handling apparatusmade in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section, as taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1, showing theinterior apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a section as taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section as taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section, as taken on the line 5--5 ofFIG. 3, showing the card transport mechanism conditioned to pick up andstart movement of a card towards the reading station;

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5, but showing the card passingthe reading station;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section, as taken on the line 7--7 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5, but showing a modifiedconstruction; and

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 6, but showing the modifiedconstruction of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As seen in the drawings, the apparatus of the invention is incorporatedin a case or housing 1 having a base 2 adapted to rest on a suitablesupport, such as a table or other support, and having an upper section 3in which is a feeding station F to which a stack of data cards, such aspunched cards, checks or the like are to be supplied, the housing alsohaving a lower section 4 in which is a card receiver or stacking stationS, to which cards are transported by transport means T past a readingstation R. The details of the housing 1 require no specificillustration, but it will be understood that it is so constructed as toenable access to the interior working mechanisms described below.

The housing has an inner wall 5 which extends upwardly from the base inthe stacking station S and a wall portion 6 forming the back of the feedstation F, these walls, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, being inclinedrelative to a vertical plane denoted by the line 7 in FIG. 3, at anangle which facilitates movement of the cards, particularly in the feedstation F, laterally into edge engagement with the wall 6. In practice,this angle A may be on the order of 25° from vertical and, if desired,the wall 6 may be substantially horizontal.

The feed station F includes means 8 for agitating or jostling a stack ofcards C which are placed in the feed station in generally horizontalrelation. The jostling means 8 includes a plate 9 which is generallyhorizontally deposed between the inner wall 6 and an outer wall 10, theplate being mounted on pivot means 11 remote from the transport stationT. The plate 9 has an upwardly inclined end section 12 so that a stackof cards C inherently tends to slide toward the transport station T instepped or feathered relation in a direction longitudinally of the plate9, the lower most card being positioned with a leading edge closer tothe transport means T than the cards thereabove. The stack of cards alsoinherently tends to shift laterally into longitudinal edge contact withthe inner wall 6, as seen in FIG. 3, due to the fact that the plate 9 islaterally inclined relative to a horizontal plane. As shown, the axis ofthe pivot means 11 is normal to the wall 6, and therefore, if the wall 6is at an angle of 25° relative to the vertical plane 7, the plate 9 willbe at an angle of 25° relative to a horizontal plane. At its upper edge,the wall 10 has a bevelled surface 13 tending to cause cards to movetoward the wall 6 when a stack of cards C has a height greater than thefront wall 10 and any of the cards laterally project from the packtowards the wall 10, a distance greater than the small clearance betweenthe cards and the walls 6 and 10. In the event that the guide wall 6 isdisposed at an angle nearing horizontal, say between horizontal andabout 45° from horizontal, means may be employed to urge the stack ofcards against the plate 9. Indeed, even when the guide wall 6 is at anangle as illustrated, means may be needed to apply downward pressure onthe stack, particularly when there are few cards in the stack.

In the illustrated embodiment, the agitating or jostling means 8,comprises a solenoid 14, the armature 15 of which is suitably connectedbeneath the plate 9. A coiled spring 16 disposed about the armature 15normally biases the plate 9 to pivot upwardly about the pivot means 11,limited by suitable stop means 16a on the lower end of the armature 15,in the illustrated form of a stop nut. Downward movement of the plate 9is limited by the solenoid stroke or by a stop pin 17 suitably connectedby nuts at 18 to a solenoid support bracket 19, a resilient bumper 20being provided on the pin 17 to engage the plate 9. As will be morefully described below, the solenoid 14 is energized to cause downwardmovement of the plate 9 against the stop 17 and then de-energized sothat the spring 16 returns the plate 9 to the upper position. Suchoscillation of the plate 9 beneath the stack of cards C sufficientlyagitates or jostles the cards that they are effectively caused to slidelaterally down the laterally inclined plate 9 into longitudinal edgecontact with the wall 6 at the feeder station. Thus, each card, as thestacked cards are successively moved from beneath the stack by thetransport means, is in the same longitudinally aligned relationship tothe transport means T and the reading station R.

The transport means T comprises a friction roll 25 rotatably carried bya shaft 26 for rotation on an axis transverse of the feed station and onthe same plane as the plate 9. When the apparatus is in operation, theroll 25 is continuously rotated by a drive motor 25a carried by a motorsupport 25b. A drive pulley 25c on the motor drives a belt 25d whichdrives a pulley 25e on the roll 25. The friction roll 25 has a resilientcover provided with laterally spaced peripheral grooves 29 and 30 andlands 31, 32 and 33, and means under the control of the oscillation ofthe plate 9 are provided for causing frictional engagement between theleading edge of the lowermost card and the lands 31-33 on the roll uponeach downward movement of the plate 9, so that the lowermost card ispicked up at the feeding station and transported past the readingstation R to the stacking station S.

More specifically, the end of the plate 9 adjacent to the roll 25 has apair of laterally spaced extension fingers 34 and 35 extending into theroll grooves 29 and 30 substantially tangentially to the lands 31-33,the cards being supported on the upper surfaces of these fingers whenthe plate 9 is in the upper position (FIG. 5) and the lower cardcontacting the friction roll 25 when the plate 9 is moved downwardly(FIG. 6) so that the fingers 34 and 35 are moved radially inwardly inthe grooves 29 and 30.

Means are provided to apply pressure to the lowermost card in the stackwhen the plate 9 and the fingers 34 and 35 are moved downwardly, so thatthe lowermost card will frictionally engage the lands 31-33 of the roll25 and thereby be carried by the roll to the reading station R. In theembodiment of FIGS. 1-6, the pressure applying means comprises springmeans including a pair of laterally spaced leaf spring arms 36 and 37affixed by fasteners 38 to an end wall 39 at the feed station F andprojecting downwardly in the planes of the roll grooves 29 and 30 andtowards the reading station R. These springs 36 and 37 are engageablewith the leading edge of the lowermost card when the plate 9 movesdownwardly to press the leading edge against the roll 25, but when theplate is in its upper position, the plate fingers 34 and 35 engagebeneath the springs 36 and 37 (FIG. 5) to hold the springs out ofpressure contact with the lowermost card. The springs 36 and 37 extendcircumferentially of the roll 25 sufficiently towards the readingstation R, that as the lowermost card is carried by the roll 25 towardsand past the reading station, the card is held in the same precisealignment, with respect to the roll 25 and the reading station R, whichwas established by edge contact of the card with the wall 6 at the feedstation. Thus, inaccuracy in reading the card due to misalignment isavoided. Moreover, the springs 36 and 37 press the card smoothly againstthe lands 31-33 and no fluttering of the card is possible. Since onlyone roll is in engagement with the card, moreover, no undesiredlongitudinal deformation of the card can occur. As a consequence, thetransport mechanism can efficiently carry cards past the reading stationR which have been mutilated or crumpled, so that such cards can beeffectively read, without jamming or being torn in the transportmechanism and without causing machine stoppage. A timing disc 25f iscarried by the roll 25. Such discs, as is well known, are transparent,but have circumferentially spaced opaque markings revolvable relative tofixed opaque markings and a light source (not shown) to time the readerwith card motion. Since the cards are fed by a single roll 25 andslippage cannot occur, due to the springs 37 forcing the cards intopositive frictional drive relation with the roll 25, the timing is moreaccurate than in machines where flutter and longitudinal deformation ofthe card are inherent.

To position successive cards at the feed station and avoid thesimultaneous picking up of more than one card by the roll 25 when thesolenoid 14 is actuated, which might occur by reason of burrs or tearsin adjacent cards or interfacial card friction, a gauge bar 40 ismounted by fasteners 40a on the end wall 39, the gauge bar 40 havingdepending stop fingers 41 spaced from the periphery of the lands 31-33sufficiently to enable passage of a single card past the fingers 41, butthe superjacent card will engage the fingers 41 and be held againstmovement until the trailing edge of the lowermost card clears theleading edge of the superjacent card and solenoid 14 is again actuated.

At the reading station R, is a support arm 45, clamped or otherwisemounted on the roll support shaft 26 by set screws 46. Mounted on thesupport arm 45 by fasteners 45a is a reading head supporting bracket 47which carried a conventional reading head 48 by which the successivecards fed through the feed station are scanned. The details of thereader head are not germane to the present invention, but in any eventthe reader head detects and supplies signals to a data storing orprinting apparatus representing the data recorded on the card. Adjacentto the roll 25, the bracket 47 has a portion 49 opposed to the peripheryof the roll 25 and having a face 50 against which the leaf springs 36,37 abut at their free ends, so that the springs 36, 37 exert substantialpressure on a card pressing the card positively into frictionalengagement with the roll 25 as the mid-section of the springs 37 areflexed outwardly from the grooves 29 and 30 of the roll 25 by a cardapproaching the reading station R, as seen in FIG. 6.

As the cards successively pass through the reading station R, they movedownwardly to the stacking station S through a throat 60 defined betweenan outer guide 61 and an inner guide 62 having stripper fingers 63 whichextend into grooves 29 and 30 in the feed roll 25 to prevent the cardsfrom clinging to the roll and deflect the leading edges of the cardsinto the throat 60. The guide 61 is at the upper end of a plate 64which, at its lower portion 65, is inclined inwardly to decelerate anddeflect the lower end of the cards as they move downwardly to form astack of cards standing on edge, as seen in FIG. 2. A retainer 66pivotally carried on the free end of an arm 67 pivotally supported at 68retains the edge stacked cards against sliding to horizontal positionsso that the cards are stacked edgewise in the same order at the stackingstation S as the cards are transported from the feed station F.

Means are provided at the stacking station for moving the successivecards from the path of an on-coming card, as best seen in FIGS. 2, 3,and 7, so that an on-coming card cannot impinge upon a preceding cardand cause mutilation of either card. As is apparent in FIG. 2, thepreceding card will engage the bottom 69 of the stacker station while anon-coming card is still being positively driven by the transport roll25. While the drive friction between the card and the roll 25 issufficient to prevent slippage, so that slippage is no problem, inaccordance with the invention, it is necessary to prevent impingement ofthe card being transported against anything which can cause card damage.Thus, the means for moving the successive cards from the path of anon-coming card comprises resilient rotary screw means 70.

More particularly, a vertical wall 71 at the stacking station T, beneaththe reading station R, supports, on mounts 72, drive means, here shown,as a pair of electric motors 73, 73, the shafts 74 of which extendthrough openings in the support wall 71, and are laterally spaced adistance greater than the width of a card C which passes from the throat60 between the shafts 74. Suitably mounted on the shafts 74 for rotationtherewith are helically wound, resilient screws or auger devices 75,having a lead longitudinally of the shafts 74. In the illustrativeembodiment, the spring screws are of opposite hand and are, therefore,rotated oppositely, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 7. The springscrews project laterally towards one another so that a card C movingdownwardly between the shafts 74 will be engaged at its oppositelongitudinal edges and moved progressively to the left in FIG. 7, asindicated by the arrow, so that the trailing edge of each card is movedfrom the path of the leading edge of the on-coming card. Since thescrews 75 are resilient, if the leading edge of a card initially engagesthe outer crest of any helix, the spring will be deformed withoutoffering substantial resistance to further longitudinal feeding of thecard by the transport roll 25, and therefore, notwithstanding the factthat the card is being positively moved into engagement with the springscrews 75, no damage can occur to the card.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a modified structure is shown for initiatingand maintaining frictional coengagement between the cards and the feedroll 25 and for further guiding a card into the throat 60. In thisembodiment, short leaf springs 137, mounted on the feed station and wall39, like the previously described leaf springs 36, 37 are adapted toengage the lowermost card at the feed station when the finger 35 on theplate 9 is moved downwardly to the position of FIG. 9 from the positionof FIG. 8, to initiate the transport of the successive cards. A secondset of springs 137a have ends connected to the stop block 40 by thefasteners 40a and free ends which contact the face 50 of the readerssupport 47, so that the bowed, intermediate portions of the springs 137awill exert the pressure on the cards required to transport the cardspast the reader 48. With this modified construction, the main transportfriction provided by the springs 137a can be established independentlyof the pressure of springs 137 required to initiate the transport.

In addition, in FIGS. 8 and 9, a third leaf spring or springs 160mounted beneath the reader 48 and having a down-turned free endprojecting towards the stripper fingers engage the card to constrain itto movement through the throat 60 and to maintain frictional engagementof the card with the roll 25 during the terminal stage of movement intothe stacker, after the card has fully passed the reading station R.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides card reading or handling apparatus which is simple in itsconstruction, yet efficient in operation, the single feed roll andpressure applying means resulting in uniform feeding of cards to thereading station throughout the entire range of card feed rates, inuniform alignment as established at the feed station, andnotwithstanding that a card may be bent or crumpled, the cards beingeffectively end stacked at the stacking station without damage orshut-down of the apparatus.

I claim:
 1. In card handling apparatus: a feed station adapted toreceive a stack of cards, card transport means including a feed rollhaving a cylindrical friction surface, means for feathering said cardstowards said feed roll to present the leading edge of successive cardsto said feed roll, drive means for continuously rotating said feed roll,pressure applying means adjacent to said feed roll for engaging theleading edge of successive cards and pressuring said cards intofrictional engagement with said surface of said feed roll, feed meansoperable independently of said drive means normally holding the leadingedge of said cards and said pressure applying means in positions atwhich cards are out of frictional contact with said feed roll, and meansfor operating said feed means to allow said pressure applying means topress said cards successively into engagement with said feed roll, saidfeed roll having a peripheral groove, said feed means including a platemounted for pivotal movement on an axis transverse to said cards, saidplate having a portion extending into said groove for normally holdingsaid cards out of frictional engagement with said feed roll, said platebeing operable by said operating means to move said portion of saidplate into said groove to enable frictional engagement of the cardadjacent to said plate with said feed roll.
 2. In apparatus for handlingdata cards as defined in claim 1, said pressure applying meanscomprising a leaf spring slidably engageable with the cards within theextent of said feed roll axially of said feed roll and spaced from thebottom of said groove.
 3. In apparatus for handling data cards asdefined in claim 2, said leaf spring extending circumferentially of saidfeed roll to press said cards against said feed roll as said cards aretransported by said feed roll.
 4. In apparatus for handling data cardsas defined in claim 2, said leaf spring extending circumferentially ofsaid feed roll to press said cards against said feed roll as said cardsare transported by said feed roll, and additional means for resilientlyholding said cards against said feed roll as said cards leave saidpressure applying means.
 5. In apparatus for handling data cards asdefined in claim 4, said additional means comprising an additional leafspring extending circumferentially of said feed roll.
 6. In cardhandling apparatus as defined in claim 1, a guide surface adjacent oneside of said plate for aligning said cards with said feed roll.
 7. Incard handling apparatus as defined in claim 1, said means for featheringsaid cards comprising an inclined surface on said plate remote from saidfeed roll.